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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 737 464 7 



Hollinger Corp. 
pH 8.5 






QC 605 
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Copy 2 



THE 



STORAGE OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY, 



BY CHARLES E* BUELL. 




c. 



WASHINGTON : 

1882. 



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Copyz 






45760 



STORING ELECTRICAL ENERGY 



Some of the phenomena of electricity attracted obser- 
vation from the earliest period. In 1671 Otto Guericke 
made an electrical machine with a globe of sulphur to be 
excited. This was the first form ever made. A sphere of 
glass was afterwards introduced, then a cylinder of glass, 
and finally a round glass plate, which was rubbed & with 
dry silk. 

In the year 1745 Prof. Muschenbroek, of Leyden, con- 
ceived of the idea of collecting and confining the sparks 
of this electrical machine. He employed a large glass jar 
nearly full of water, with a long iron rod penetrating 
through the cork into the water. The object he con- 
templated was partly accomplished, but the accumulation 
of electricity was not manifested owing to the want of an 
outside conducting surface. 

Like many discoveries, the perfecting of the Leyden 
jar was the result of accident; for one of the puoils by the 
name of Cuenus, in a subsequent experiment, grasped the 
jar to hold it while disconnecting the rod from the elec- 
trical machine; his hand, serving for the outside coatino- 
gave the desired effect, and this student in the new field 
of science received a stunning shock. Without disclosing 
his experience, and with a degree of forethought worthy of a 
better motive, he repeated the experiment upon Prof 
Muschenbroek so successfully that he did not recover from 
the effects for several days. 

We may store up electrical energy of very high potential 
in the Leyden jar and make use of it at intervals instead 
of taking it continuously from the machine, but the 
potential of the jar cannot be made to equal that of the 
charging machine. 






It is a fact deserving consideration, that the accumula- 
tion of electricity by the Leyden jar increases the quantity 
effect, and diminishes the intensity of the electricity 
accumulated. 

As the Leyden jar serves to increase the discharge with- 
out prolonging its effect it is not usually considered under 
the head of electrical storage of this age of electricity.. 
It has the property of producing secondary currents in an 
induction apparatus when discharged through the primary 
coil. With a strong charge this secondary current may 
be caused to melt a foot of platinum wire. And alone or 
in connection with its induced effects will no doubt play 
an important part in the storage of electrical energy in 
the future. 

In the vear 1762, M. Sulzer noticed the electric current 
which is occasioned by a piece of lead and a piece of silver 
in contact with each other and with the tongue, and he 
thought that this effect was due to a solution of the 
metals. This may be considered the earliest mention of 
chemical action in the production of electricity, with which 
we have largely to deal in considering the storage of 
electrical energy. 

This very simple experiment was repeated by the 
philosophers throughout Europe; was made the subject of 
lengthy discussions, and long after referred to in defense 
of the famous " contact force " which Volta and his 
followers considered to be the urging power of the Yoltaic 
current. 

In the year 1790 Paetz and Van Troostnick decomposed 
water into its constituent gases by passing electric sparks 
through water from gold electrodes. 

In 1791, Galvani discovered that convulsions were pro- 
duced by establishing a communication between the 
nerves and muscles of a frog's legs, by means of metals; 
thus laying the foundation from which the Galvanic bat- 
tery afterwards sprung. 



In 1799 Fabroni, disclosed the fact that the phenomena 
of galvanism originated from the action of chemical 
affinities. 

In the year 1800, Volta, Professor of Natural Phil- 
osophy at Parvia, in a letter to the Royal Society, dated 
March 20th, announced the discovery of the uoltaic pile, 
now known as the galvanic battery. The first form of 
this battery consisted of silver and zinc disks separated 
by moistened cardboard, the silver, zinc, and cardboard 
being placed in series and wet with salt water. 

The pile devised by Volta owed its origin to the inter- 
pretation which this philosopher gave to the remarkable 
experiment, by Galvani, namety, that a frog's legs under- 
goes commotion when contact is made between the nerves 
and muscles by metals. 

Volta had previously added to the apparatus of the 
electrician what is known as an elect rophorus, an apparatus 
exemplifying in a remarkably striking manner the action 
of induced electricity. 

The researches of Lavoisier, La Place, and Fabroni, 
relative to electrical excitement by evaporation of fluids, 
by the solution of solids in acids, by every instance of sud- 
den change of state, and of rapid chemical action, had in- 
dicated the close connection between electricity and 
chemical action, which proved of important bearing in the 
development of Volta's pile. 

It may be easily believed that Volta was influenced in 
his discovery by the study of the electric torpedo, as he 
called his apparatus an artificial electrical organ ( organ e 
elect ri que artificile). 

Although the discoveries of Volta were far surpassing 
in importance those by Galvani, they were at first 
considered merely subservient to the purpose of giving 
greater effect to the experiments of the latter, and because 
the battery of Volta was chiefly employed to illustrate the 
discovery of Galvani; it received the name of galvanic 



battery, and the new branch of science founded upon it is 
termed galvanism. 

Numerous attempts were made, after the announcement 
of Volta's invention, to improve the form and action of 
the apparatus. These endeavors have been continued, 
with more or less success, to the present day, of which the 
storage of electrical energy is an instance, for, as will be 
shown, the accumulator is but a galvanic battery. 

Two months after the announcement by Volta of his 
invention, Messsrs. Nicholson and Carlisle decomposed 
water into its constituent gases by means of Volta's pile. 

In 1801, Dr. Wollaston pronounced that the oxidation 
of the metals in a voltaic pile is the cause of its electrical 
effects; later in the same year, he turned the power of an 
electrical machine into a continuous current while decom- 
posing water by frictional electricity. This is the first re- 
corded account of secondary effects of a continuous char- 
acter. 

In 1801, Gautherot observed the action due to polariza- 
tion on which electrical storage is supposed to depend. 

In 1802, in the very infancy of voltaic electricity, an 
artificial magnet was employed to decompose water in place 
of the direct galvanic or voltaic current. This is of in- 
terest in connection with the employment of magneto- 
electricity in charging accumulators. 

In 1803, Hitter of Jena devised a secondary battery 
making use of the currents due to polarization. When 
an electric current is sent through acidulated water, with 
platinum plates as electrodes, a film of oxygen covers the 
positive electrode, and a film of hydrogen covers the neg- 
ative electrode. One of these two substances being elec- 
tro-positive and the other electro-negative, they act in the 
liquid like two different metals ; the hydrogen plays the 
part of zinc, and the oxygen plays the part of platinum. 

Withdrawing the charging battery and connecting the 
two plates thus covered with films of gas, by a conducting 



wire, an electric current is obtained. The direction of 
this current is from the hydrogen film to the oxygen film 
through the conducting wire. 

Two electrodes thus covered with condensed gaseous 
films are said to be polarized. 

When a cell with platinum plates is introduced into a 
voltaic circuit it is found that the battery-current , though 
strong at first, gradually weakens. This is due to the op- 
posed current of polarization. 

The electro-motive force of the film-covered plates is 
in the opposite direction from the current charging them, 
and may be far greater than that of the battery charging 
them. It may give a more brilliant spark and overcome 
resistances insuperable to the charging battery. 

This form of battery was discovered by Ritter. Some 
writers accredit the invention to Gautherot in 1801, as 
consisting of a phial containing salt and water, with a 
stopper through which passed two silver wires. Gauthe- 
rot was followed by Erman, a German, who was in 
turn followed by Bitter of Jena. 

In 1805, Brugnatelli deposited gold on silver medals by 
voltaic action by immersing them in ammonurate of gold. 

In 1812, Zamboni constructed a pile of alternate layers 
of tin foil, paper and peroxide of manganees. 

In 1826, Kobili, by the electrolysis of a solution of the 
acetate of lead, deposited peroxide of lead on plates of metal. ' 

In 1833, Faraday set the whole theory of storage of 
electrical energy on a firm basis in a series of papers com- 
municated to the Royal Society. He said that " the de- 
composing action of a current is constant for a constant ! 
quantity of electricity, notwithstanding great variations 
in its sources, in its intensities or in other circumstances. 
He showed by numerous experiments that electricity and 
chemical affinity are the same force differently modified ; l 
by showing that the amount of decomposing effects in 
all substances agrees with their chemical equivalents. 



To those not acquainted with the nature of chemical 
combinations it may be desirable to state that the ele- 
ments of bodies always unite in definite proportions. For 
instance, eight atoms of oxygen unite with one of hydro- 
gen to form water, and one atom of oxygen unites with 
fi.ve of potassium to form potass. 

The eight parts of oxygen which combine with one of 
hydrogen to form water combine in the proportions of 32 
with copper, 58 with tin and 103 with lead; and the same 
amount of electric force that is required to separate 8 
parts'of oxygen from water will, by secondary action, sepa- 
rate copper, tin and lead from their combinations with 
oxygen in the proportion of 32 with copper, 58 with tin 
and 103 with lead. 

Faraday carefully collected the results of the action 
of a zinc plate and a plate of platinum in dilute acid. 

The quantity of oxygen and hydrogen evolved showed 
the amount of water decomposed. The weight of the 
zinc plate was diminished, and the weight of water de- 
composed, as 9 is to 32.31; these numbers correspond with 
the equivalents of water and zinc. 

In 1837, Schonbien, of Basle, announced the fact that 
plates coated with peroxide of lead possessed electro-motive 
qualities. 

In 1839, Dr. Golding Bird announced the fact that a 
platinum plate coupled with a zinc plate immersed in acid- 
ulated water, and polarized by galvanic action, evolved 
hydrogen in unequal proportions. 

In 1840, Murray deposited various metals on carbon 
surfaces by galvanic action. 

In 1841, Alfred Smee enunciated the laws regulating 
the character of metallic deposits by galvanic action. 

In 1842. Grove invented his gas battery. This arrange- 
ment consisted of platinized plates enclosed in tubes, and 
arranged in pairs. One plate of each pair being sur- 
rounded with oxvffen iras and the other with hydrogen 



3*as, the lower extremities of the plates being in acidulated 
water. 

The gases in the tubes were formed by passing a gal- 
vanic current through the pair. The gases forming at 
each plate in well-known proportions. The battery being 
•disconnected and the plates connected by a wire, a con- 
tinuous current is produced exceeding that of a Daniels 
-element in electro-motive force. The current continu- 
ing to flow until the gases previously accumulated have 
recombined. 

The current produced by the Grove gas battery is equal 
to the current which produced the gases by the decompo- 
sition of the acidulated water. A modification of this 
battery, affording greater surface of triple contact be- 
tween metal, gases and acidulated water, promises the best 
of any form of storage battery for many uses. 

In subsequent experiments Mr. Grove employed plates 
-covered with peroxides of metals, and C. W. Siemens 
employed carbon tubes, very porous. The carbon gave a 
greater quantitive effect, with less intensity. The inten- 
sity was increased by coating the tubes by galvanic depo- 
sition of platinum before introducing them for charging. 

In 1843, Wheatstone constructed what he was pleased 
to term a galvanic battery which employed platinum plates 
coated with peroxide of lead in conjunction with amalgam 
of potassium ; in describing the same, he says, "such a 
plate is easily prepared by making it the positive electrode 
In a decomposing cell charged with a solution of acetate 
of lead." 

In 1852, C. W. Siemens constructed a secondary bat- 
tery by employing carbon plates impregnated and coated 
with peroxide of lead, in acidulated water ; describing it 
he says : u The plates were dipped into a solution of ace- 
tate of lead. Then heated to dull redness, cooled, and 
again dipped in the lead solution. After repeating this 
operation several times the plates were acted on by gal- 



8 

vanic currents by which the lead was converted into per- 
oxide of lead. The current from the secondary battery 
thus formed gave two volts from a single pair. A larger 
battery of carbon plates thus coated and held separate by 
a porous partition gave good results." 

The power of this form of cell depends upon the time 
of application as well as the power of the charging cur- 
rent. It affords a large amount of active surface in a 
small space, and is less expensive, and less weight than 
batteries employing lead plates. 

In 1859, M. Gaston Plant showed that lead was the 
most favorable metal for use in secondary batteries and 
he has since then multiplied proof of this superiority* 

In its first form the battery of Plante consisted of 
sheets of lead held separate by a sheet or strip of felt, and 
rolled together to form a cylindrical shape to fit the 
glass jar. This battery thus constructed was filled with 
acidulated water and the peroxide of lead formed on the 
plates by the slow action of a galvanic current. 

In the first formation when the battery is new there is 

an advantage in polarizing the electrodes first in one direc- 

ion and then in the other, and in reversing several times 

the direction of the charge, but in subsequent uses care 

hould be observed to always charge it in the same direction. 

After the battery is " formed " the plates are found to 
be coated with an active layer of absorptive substance 
that will receive and discharge electricity. 

The greater number of times a secondary battery is 
charged and discharged the better it is. Intervals of rest 
improve this form of battery. 

He connected four or five elements or cells side by side, 
and charged them from three Bunsen elements, and con- 
nected them in series for discharging. The secondary 
currents are able to magnetize electro-magnets more pow- 
erfully than the primary currents from which they arc. 
derived. 



9 

It is found that when the resistance is considerable 
the current remains constant daring several hours. It- 
was found that a well " formed " element would give a 
good current several weeks after it was charged. 

In order to obtain currents of great energy a number of 
secondary elements are arranged side by side, and charged 
and connected in series to be discharged. 

As commonly understood, Plante's secondary batteries 
were constructed only in view of scientific researches ; he r 
nevertheless, used forms possessing industrial qualities. 
He employed the peroxide of lead as a cement or paste,, 
pressed into spaces in a metal plate or electrode, in shape 
not unlike a gridiron. 

In 1861, Charles Kirchhof described several modifica- 
tions of secondary batteries. One of these batteries con- 
sisted of metal plates coated with mercury and immersed 
in acidulated water or in solutions of sulphate of copper. 
He describes another consisting of plates of metal coated 
with peroxide of lead and spongy lead, by electro deposit 
tion in a solution of nitrate and acetate of lead. He 
describes using lead plates coated with mercury, and says: 
" Electricity from any source may be stored up, as, for* 
instance, connecting these forms of batteries between a 
lightning rod and the earth to obtain atmospheric electri- 
city, or with a rubber of a frictional machine, or with a 
magneto electrical machine." 

In 1866, Geo. G. Percival employed electrodes for sec- 
ondary batteries, consisting of metal plates covered with 
crushed coke and powdered lead, in diluted sulphuric acid. 

In 1869, Mr. Percival published a description of an im- 
proved form of secondary battery consisting of a positive 
electrode of zinc, with a neutral solution of the positive 
metal as — Zn. So. 4. By this means not only is peroxide 
of lead deposited on the negative electrode, but there is 
also a finely divided deposit of zinc on the positive elec- 
trode, and sulphuric acid is liberated. 



10 

By this arrangement a much more energetic chemical, 
and consequently electrical action is developed, when the 
charging current ceases, than if both electrodes were of 
lead. He amalgamates the zincs. 

In 1872, Deschanel, of Paris, employed a secondary bat- 
tery consisting of electrodes coated with metallic salts, 
mechanically applied. 

He describes two electrodes coated by electro deposition, 
but says: "It is not necessary that the deposition of the 
substances on the plates should have been brought about 
by electrolysis. A similar result will be obtained if the 
plates be coated with the substances in any other way." 

In 1879, Count d'Arsonval employed carbon plates 
covered by oxides of lead and manganese, coupled with 
zinc plates in solution of sulphate of zinc. 

It will appear from the foregoing that a secondaiy bat- 
tery can be formed by the use of gases in the presence of 
unoxidized electrodes, preferably of platinum or carbon: 

By electrodes of different character, whether of different 
metals or of the same metals, surrounded or coated with 
electrolytes of different character, or ; 

By electrodes of different chemical potential, made so 
by galvanic action. 

It has been shown in the foregoing that secondary bat- 
terries have been used with electrodes coated with an 
active layer of absorptive substance, such as metal or 
metallic compound that becomes spongy and thus capable 
of receiving and discharging electricity, that the electrodes 
have frequently consisted of plates impregnated, and coated, 
with oxides, insoluble salts, and amalgams of metals applied 
as a paste, by electro deposition or, otherwise. 

The electricity received into secondary batteries is not 
retained as electricity, but is held in a chemical embrace 
and gives out the electrical discharge by the action oi 
-chemical affinities as disclosed by Fabroni in 1799. They 



11 

are a galvanic battery that can be recombined by electrical 
currents when it has become exhausted. 

In 1882, a patent was granted to Camille A. Faure, a 
native of France, for a polarization or secondary electric 
battery. (No. 252,002.) 

The invention is alleged to consist in " the addition or 
application of a layer of active material — as a metal, 
metallic oxide or salt — to suitable plates, and that this 
active material may be applied in various ways, as in the 
form of paint, paste or cement, in the form of a deposit 
by galvanic action, or chemical precipitation, or otherwise." 

The process of " forming " this battery is not unlike 
that practised by Plante and others and the electrolytic 
liquid the same. 

The salts of lead not soluble in the electrolytic liquid 
are preferred, but the invention is not limited to these, 
but includes generally substances capable of storing elec- 
trical energy. 

The claim for this form of secondary battery, is: "As an 
improvement in secondary batteries, an electrode consist- 
ing of a support coated on one or more faces with an active 
layer of absorptive substance — such as metal or metallic 
compound applied thereto in the described condition so as 
to or instantly become spongy, and thus capable of re- 
ceiving and discharging electricity, as stated, in contra- 
distinction to a metallic plate itself rendered spongy by 
the disintregating action of electricity." 

There are other claims for sub-combinations. 

Public interest was aroused to a high degree by state- 
ments published in leading papers in May, 1881, regarding 
results which had been obtained from a secondary battery 
constructed by Faure, which occupied less than a cubic foot 
of space and was charged by an ordinary Grove battery. 

If this battery proves to be as effective as was then 
claimed for it, the superiority is due to care in construc- 
tion, and to a painstaking and prolonged process of " form- 



12 

ing," with powerful currents, rather than to any novelty 
involved or arrangement of parts that amounts to dis- 
covery. 

It does not obviate the long continued process of "form- 
ing." A portion of its interior, the felt sheathing, is 
destroyed by the acid, besides this form of battery is too 
heavy for portable uses. 

To convey a true impression of its capabilities it may be 
stated that the results derived from experiments by the 
official commission of the Electrical Exhibition at Paris 
demonstrates that 35 cells, each weighing 96J pounds., 
with liquid and containing vessel included, gave one-horse 
power for one hour for each 238 pounds of battery. 

This is but little better than the earlier forms of Plante's 
secondary batteries are said to have afforded. 

In all the foregoing described forms of secondary bat- 
teries, the electricity that is used to charge them, passes, 
through them and does not accumulate in the battery as 
some might suppose, but in passing through the battery it 
acts to create a difference in chemical potential between 
the positive and negative plates which constitute the bat- 
tery, and when these plates are fully charged in their 
chemical relations to each other, and the charging current 
has ceased to flow, these batteries are then simply gal- 
vanic batteries, and in the act of being discharged they 
lose their power like other galvanic batteries, but they 
can be charged whenever exhausted by the action of 
electricity passed through them, and do not consume zinc 
and chemicals which require to be replenished. 

Galvanic batteries which consume zinc and chemicals 
give electricity in abundance, and if they had continued 
to be the principal mode of supplying electricity we should 
not have so much need of secondary batteries, as itw 7 ould 
be as well to employ these batteries direct as to store their 
energy. 



13 

But chemical consuming galvanic batteries are too ex- 
pensive for producing light and power. 

The development of Faraday's discovery that the motion 
of a coil of wire in front of the poles of a magnet or in 
a magnetic field gives rise to an electric current in the 
wire, has shown us that the burning of zinc or other ma- 
terials in batteries such as Grove's or Daniell's, is a very 
expensive way of producing an electric current, and that 
it is far more economical to obtain electric currents by 
employing the best mechanical means we have to produce 
rotation of the coil of wire in the magnetic Held. The 
different magneto and dynamo-electric machines (and 
they abound) are but the results of attempts to find the 
best form of coil, the best kind and best form of magnets, 
the best proportion of resistances, and the most suitable 
arrangements for the special work in each case which is 
required to be done. The dynamo-electric machine is 
very satisfactory as a mode of producing electricity, and 
both the electromotive force and the current increase with 
the rate of rotation of the coil. This mode of producing 
electricity is like raising water to any level that may be 
required in each particular case ; but the electricity must be 
used at once. This may be very inconvenient, and hence 
the necessity for something like a reservoir to store up the 
electricity. The labors of Faraday have shown us the re- 
lation between the quantity of electricity and the weights 
of the chemical elements decomposed by it in an electro- 
lyte, and that these chemical elements may unite again to 
reproduce the same quantity of electricity. The object, 
then, to attain by means of secondary batteries is to find 
some substance which can be decomposed into two others , 
which will remain apart, even when joined by a liquid 
conductor, until a complete electric circuit is made. Then 
these two substances should be at considerable difference 
of potential, so as to give a strong electric current in 



14 

uniting again to form the substance from which they were 
decomposed. 

Besides those secondary batteries previously described 
convenient forms are had by employing a scroll of copper 
and a scroll of zinc, arranged as in a gravity battery, in a 
solution of sulphate of zinc, or — 

By employing plates of lead, dish shaped, filled with 
red oxide of lead, or peroxide of manganese, covered with 
cloth or like porous layer, and set one on to the other ; 
a dilute solution of vinegar or sulphuric acid can be 
used. A secondary battery employing a negative plate of 
palladium which during the action of electrolysis absorbs 
more than 900 times its volume of hydrogen with a posi- 
tive pole of lead, is well spoken of. Good results are said 
to have been obtained by the use of iron turnings in place 
of the palladium plate, as it will absorb 200 times its vol- 
ume of hydrogen in a solution of sulphate of ammonia of 
50 per cent, of salt. 

The negative electrode should have the property of absorb- 
ing hydrogen, and the positive pole should have the prop- 
erty of absorbing oxygen or of becoming peroxidized. 

The decomposition of alkalies does not require a power- 
ful voltaic arrangement Iodide of potassium may be de- 
composed by a single pair of plates feebly charged, but for 
producing decomposition in most solutions not less than 
three cells of battery should be employed. 

The decomposing power of a ray of light upon one of 
a pair of iodized silver plates, immersed in water, in the 
dark, will cause a galvanometer to be deflected. The plate 
upon which the light falls becoming positive. 

A self -charging secondary battery was made by Prof. 
Grove in 1845, and is described as follows : " The glass 
cells to contain the acid water are open ; the hydrogen 
tubes, of which one is in each cell, all enter a common 
glass tube, which is above them, like the hydraulic main 
in a gas work ; one end of this tube is closed, and the 



15 

other is connected with a generator of hydrogen similar 
to that of Dobereiner's apparatus ; by this means the sup- 
ply of hydrogen is constantly maintained. The platinized 
plates are in each tube, and other plates, properly con- 
nected, are immersed in the acid liquid of the cells, which 
being exposed to air, keeps up the supply of oxygen. Mr. 
Grove's experiments show that the most invariable action 
can be relied on for years." 

A self -charging apparatus is described in II Cimento r 
Ann. iii, 1845, as follows: " M. Marianini took five 
Leyden jars coated with zinc outside and with silver in- 
side; he placed them one within the other, and made 
communication between the inner coating of the inner- 
most and the outer of the outermost, by means of 
a silver wire, and the apparatus charged itself. His test 
of charge was the contraction of a frog placed in the 
circuit." 

The galvanic battery, and in fact the whole science of 
galvanism, reverts for its origin to the interpretation 
which Prof. Volta placed upon the simple, labratory ex- 
periment by Galvani, and the republication of the ex- 
periments by Grove and Marianini in this age of practical 
application of every means for producing and utilizing- 
currents, may lead to the construction of a self-charging 
pile that will actuate clocks, or serve for occasional ring- 
ing of bells, like open circuit batteries. 

Charles Kirchhof, previously referred to, states that 
electrical energy may be stored from friction machines, 
and by connecting easily charged batteries between a 
lightning rod and the earth. 

In a letter written by Prof. "YVinthrop, of Cambridge, 
Mass., to Benj. Franklin, bearing date September 29 
1762, he says: " There is an observation relating to elec- 
tricity in the atmosphere which seemed new to me. I 
have some points on the top of my house, and the wire 
where it passes withinside the house is furnished with 



s 



16 

bells, according to your method, to give notice of the pas- 
sage of electric fluid. In summer these bells ring at the 
approach of a thunder storm, but cease soon after it begins 
to rain; in winter they sometimes, though not very often, 
ring while it is snowing, but never, as I remember, when 
it rains. But what was unexpected to me was, that, 
though the bells had not rung while it was snowing, yet 
the next day, after it had done snowing, and the weather 
had cleared up, while the snow was driven about by a 
high wind, west or northwest, the bells rung for several 
hours as briskly as I had ever known them, and I drew 
considerable sparks from the wire." 

The action described by Prof. Winthrop w r ould seem to 
be too intermittent to be utilized, but constant currents 
may be obtained from plates of copper and zinc, or iron, 
buried in the earth, the effect from which might be sup- 
plemented by the atmospheric currents, which are nearly 
always present and sometimes intense, as during what are 
termed magnetic storms. 

The constant product from belts and machinery in fac- 
tories can, without doubt, be utilized, and a waste product 
turned to account for lighting the factory, or adjacent 
buildings, or for other obvious uses. 

The constant discharge of electricity from the belt can 
be passed into secondary batteries containing an easily 
decomposed electrolyte, or the sparks can be first accumu- 
lated in a Leyden jar, and sent with more quantity effect 
into the secondary batteries. While advantages might be 
gained by modifying the Leyden jar by making it resemble 
more nearly Marianini's apparatus, or an easily charged 
secondary battery; care should be taken to insulate the 
apparatus perfectly. 

Twenty-eight secondary batteries of forty pounds weight 
each will maintain twenty incandescent lamps of eight 
candle power each for twenty hours. With forty such 
batteries ten incandescent lamps of twenty candle power 



17 

each can be maintained for ten hours. In the latter case 
an average of eight pounds of battery maintains a candle 
power of light for ten hours. 

When the size of each battery is increased and the 
number of batteries remain the same a very much larger 
number of lamps can be maintained. Thirty-three 
cells of secondary battery, each weighing 300 pounds, sus- 
tained 201 twenty candle power lamps at their full capacity 
of incandescence. To light one such lamp properly would 
require the same degree of energy, or nearly so, but to 
light one such lamp would not require very large cells. 

Lamps of low resistance and large light-giving surface 
can be made incandescent by a less number of cells of 
secondary battery, of large size. 

It is possible to charge these batteries from a few 
cells of gravity battery, but to accomplish satisfactory 
results a dynamo machine is necessary, and the constant 
current dynamo-electric machines adapted for plating give 
good results. 

A small Gramme machine of the A type, having an 
internal resistance of 4.58 ohms, and with an external re- 
sistance of 4 ohms, gives an electric current of 17.5 webers 
and an electro-motive force of 158.5 volts, giving an 
amount of work equivalent to 2 h. p.=8 times the energy 
of 40 cells of Grove. 

If we wish to replace such a machine by Grove's cells, 
we should have to arrange about 80 cells to get the same 
electro-motive force, and to make each cell about four 
times as large, or to arrange 320 cells in four sets of 80 
in each set, to get the same amount of external work done 
as by the Gramme machine. This will show how impos- 
sible it is to do the work by voltaic batteries which can be 
done by magneto-electric machines. 

When a dynamo machine is used for charging, the ma- 
chine should be placed in the circuit with the secondary 
batteries in a developed condition. 



18 

As it requires a brief interval of time for a machine to 
speed up and to build up a current in its field of force 
magnets, and, as as the secondary batteries, after having 
been used, retain a residual charge of no mean character, 
if the machine was connected into the circuit with these 
batteries before it had gained a proper speed, and before 
it was producing a current sufficient to charge the batteries, 
the residual charge in the batteries, acting instantly, would 
set up a current through the helices of the machine, and 
magnetize it in a wrong direction. 

To overcome this difficulty the machine can be run on 
a developing circuit. Then the current from the machine 
can be split through the charging circuit which includes 
the secondary batteries, and then the developing circuit 
can be broken, and the machine be left in the charging 
circuit with the secondary batteries, producing a current 
that will not be overcome by the batteries. 

This described manipulation of circuits can be accom- 
plished, automatically, by a ball governor, or by an electro- 
magnetic switch actuated by the current of the machine 
when it has become sufficiently powerful. 

Another mode of overcoming the difficulty due to the 
retained charge of secondary batteries, is to divide the 
current from the dynamo machine, one portion passing 
through the helices of the field-of-force magnets, and 
another portion going to charge the secondary batteries. 

Still another way of obviating the trouble is to charge 
the field-of-force magnets from an independent source of 
electricity. 

By observing these precautions the irregular power of 
wind wheels, tide wheels and other like waste forces can 
be converted into electricity, and, by means of secondary 
batteries, transformed into a constant power of less force, 
or a greater power for a less period of time. 

The current from the dynamo-electrical machine is un- 
stable for small changes in the speed of the motor when 



19 

the product is less than two- thirds the capacity of the 
dynamo, the difference depending on the change of speed 
from 600 to 700 revolutions a minute, being from 5 to 15 
units in the current in its decomposing effect. 

It is impossible to fully realize the consequences that 
must follow from the combination of electrical storage of 
energy with the dynamo-electric machine. The dynamo- 
electric machine, standing alone and unsupported by elec- 
trical storage of energy, is truly a great power, largely 
tending to develop the practical use of electricity ; but 
in alliance with the secondary voltaic action, in a perfected 
form of battery, the practical value of the dynamo-electric 
machine will be increased a hundred fold. Things that 
are impossible to be done with the unaided dynamo can 
be easily accomplished by this combination, coal could be 
burned at the mines and by engines, and dynamo machines 
be converted into electricity and transmitted over wires 
to the cities and be reconverted into available power-giving 
form by electrical storage. 

Water powers that are remote from railways could be 
converted into such power on the line of railways. Such 
electric transmission of power is already feasible and the 
constant accumulation of a water power in secondary vol- 
taic energy during twenty-four hours would exceed the 
power of the water during ten hours, after all deductions 
for loss were made, and the losses need not be large even 
over long distances. 

Eminent electricians express themselves with confidence 
in this matter. 

Sir W. Thomson showed, in his inaugural address last year 
to the British Association, that if it were desired to trans- 
mit 26,250 horse power by a copper wire half an inch in 
diameter, from Niagara to New York, which is about 300 
miles distance, and not to lose more than one-fifth of the 
whole amount of work — that is, to deliver up in New 
York 21,000 horse power — the electromotive force be- 



20 

tween the two wires must be 80,000 volts. Now, what, asks 
Professor Ayrton, is to be done with this enormous elec- 
tromotive force at the New York end of the wires? 

The solution of this problem, he says, was also given by 
Sir W. Thomson on the same occasion, and it consists in 
using large numbers of accumulators. All that is neces- 
sary to do in order to subdivide this enormous electromo- 
tive into what may be called small commercial electromo- 
tive forces, is to keep a battery, of 40,000 cells, always 
charged direct from the main current, and to apply a 
methodical system of removing sets of 50 and placing 
them on the town supply circuits, while other sets of 50 
are being regularly introduced into the main circuit that 
is being charged. Of course this removal does not mean 
bodily removal of the cells, but merely disconnecting the 
wires. It is probable that this employment of secondary 
batteries will be of great importance since it overcomes 
the last difficulty in the economical electrical transmis- 
sion of power over long distances. 

The political and social significance of the applications 
of electricity will increase as the development of systems 
of power and light by means of this agent are multiplied. 

Electricity, unlike steam, does not necessitate the aggre- 
gation of capital. A steam engine can give power only 
within the range of its shafting. A dynamo electric ma- 
chine propelled by water power could work a loom in every 
house and drive a plow on every farm for miles around. 

In the cities they declare that one electric lamp is as 
effective as five policemen. 

The type in Guttenberg's printing press in its mechani- 
cal combination proves more potent than political com- 
binations. 

It has been said that u steam blew up aristocracy," but 
a stronger agent than steam is at work to-day upon the 
social and political structure. The means of production 
are in the hands of the few now, but what promises to be 



21 

the motive force of the future will not belong to private 
owners. 

The fitful but tremendous forces of nature by the 
agency of the dynamo machine and the storage battery 
will become the main spring of our light and power-giving 
systems of the future. 

Probably the present storage battery bears as much 
resemblance to the the future accumulator, as the bladder 
which Dr. Clayton used as a gas holder in 1688 does to 
the gasometer of city gas works, or as James Watt's crude 
steam engine does to the Atlantic steamer. When the ac- 
cumulator of the future has been built it will be more easy 
to say what the limit of its use will be, but at present we 
have to deal with less perfect forms. 

For many uses, a secondary battery like the pile devised 
by Zamboni, in 1812, moistened with potash water, is 
a convenient form. 

A secondary battery consisting of lead shot, coated with 
mercury, and contained in a porous cup, such as are used in 
ordinary galvanic batteries, with an outside glass, or copper 
jar filled with broken coke has been used, with good re- 
sults. A conducting piece being surrounded by the shot, 
and another in contact with the coke to carry oft' the cur- 
rents, are necessary. 

A dense solution of sulphate of copper, without crystals, 
covers the coke. The shot in the porous cup being covered 
with acidulated water. 

The charging current should always enter at the porous 
cup. 

When the battery is fully charged the solution becomes 
clear, and when discharged becomes blue again. 

A form similar in many respects to the above is de- 
scribed by Kirchhof and by Sutton. 

Another form consisting of shot coated, or mixed with 
peroxide of lead, for either electrodes, gives good results, 
but requires a process of "forming." 



22 

The employment of shot affords a larger surface than the 
same weight of sheet lead, and has other advantages. 

A secondary battery with plates or scrolls of metal, ar- 
ranged as in the gravity battery, with a solution of sul- 
phate of zinc, is well spoken of for some uses, but all 
these easily constructed forms are subject to local 
action, and lose some of their power, even upon an open 
circuit. 

In making experiments with secondary batteries the 
greatest degree of patience is required, as it frequently 
takes a long time to " form " a battery so that it will re- 
ceive a charge. 

Those forms of batteries employing peroxide of lead 
require four or five hundred hours to be properly 
" formed." 

The depolarization of the conducting electrodes in gal- 
vanic batteries is usually effected by oxygen, but it can 
also be done by chlorine and greater energy be obtained; 
chloride of platinum was employed by Daniell, chloride of 
silver by Marie Davy, Warren De La Hue and Gaiffe, 
chloride of lead by Davy, perchloride of iron by Der- 
chemin and chloride of lime bj T the writer. 

Chlorine is an easily produced gas, and it affords con- 
stancy of action, and great energy, and may be found 
available in secondary voltaic batteries. 

The chloride of silver battery recently used by Warren 
De La Rue consisted of 14,600 cells, and gave wonderful 
results. 

The battery consists of a zinc electrode un amalgamated, 
with an electrode formed of a cylinder of chloride of 
silver melted around a silver wire. The liquid is dilute 
sal ammoniac. 

This form of battery was designed for experiments of 
short duration, but it is found to act without polarization 
during long uses; during its action zinc is substituted for 



23 

silver in the chloride; there is no hydrogen evolved and 
consequently no polarization. 

This form of battery will last for years, and can be re- 
newed by the recovery of the metals employed, so that 
the replenishing of material consumed would be trifling, 
but the expense of first construction is considerable. 

A secondary battery involving the same action as the 
chloride of silver battery, with the absence of local or 
internal action as long as the circuit is open, would be a 
welcome addition to the list. 

The constant and varied thought which is being given 
to this subject will certainly establish every fact in con- 
nection with the storage of electrical energy, and it is 
safe to predict that a perfect secondary battery will be 
produced. 

The modes of charging are not as readily multiplied as 
the forms of batteries, because of the almost endless varia- 
tions that can be made when dealing with chemical com- 
binations. 

The uses of secondary batteries, however, run out in so 
many directions that a field is open for inventors in the 
adaptation of this stored energy, to work out the variety 
of operations. 

The delivery of electricity to residences, stores, and 
other buildings, in this stored form, and for all its many 
uses, has been the most desirable method of placing it 
before the public, as considered by many. 

Others have contemplated the locating of suitable 
storage batteries, at each house or building, and by making 
daily visits with a portable dynamo-electric machine, 
charge the batteries, as they stand, with a requisite supply 
of energy for the work to be accomplished. 

A better way, in most cases, would seem to be to have 
secondary batteries at each house or building, and to con- 
nect these several batteries with a dynamo-electric machine 
at a central or otherwise conveniently located point, and 



24 

to constantly charge them, or parts of them, by cheaply 
produced currents of low energy, which can be delivered 
over inexpensive conductors that may be buried in the 
earth without expensive insulation. 

Circuits that are employed for the charging of bat- 
teries could be used for street lamps at night, and the 
batteries that had been charged over them, being discon- 
nected, could furnish light for their respective buildings, 
or the circuits could be used to furnish power and also 
store energy at the same time, during the day, and then 
at night be used for street lighting, thus utilizing a not 
expensive plant of circuits and machinery for several uses. 



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